Dreams
by so-damn-mishalicious
Summary: Based on tumblr headcanons: Hux sleep gets interruped by an unexpected guest seeking his comfort...


The sound of quiet foot steps roused him from his sleep. The room was entirely dark but his senses sharpened quickly like they had been trained to, prepared for an eventual attack coming. But then he listened closer and there was something else… not only where the steps uncoordinated, clumsy at best, a quiet whimpering accompanied them along with heavy breathing. Hux decided to turn on the light on his night stand and like he suspected he found the small knight trying to climb his bed but not quiet reaching the top of the mattress, struggling to heave himself up.  
"Ren… it's late. I thought you were asleep? What are you doing here?"

The raven haired lifted his head upon hearing his voice and revealed the red eyes and blotched cheeks, obviously he had been crying recently. The big brown eyes welled up again, tears threatening to spill over and a low whine of Hux' name escaped his lips before he sniffled again, louder this time. The ginger was up and took hold of the child, lifting him to his lap and craddling him in a soft hug.  
"Ren what's wrong? Why are you crying - did something happen?"

Kylo just continued to press his face to his chest, sounds of desperation muffled by Hux' sleeping shirt and he let him, stroking his hair, whispering comforting words while pressing an occasional kiss to the dark locks. If something shook the little Sith up that hard he wanted to cry, he would wait for him to calm down. They could still talk later on. And though children were basically made of neverending energy the tears drenching his shirt subsided after some time, the sniffles quietening as well, only small hiccups shaking the small form from time to time. The man gently took the small hand of the knight into his, detaching it from the iron grip it had on his sleeping attire and used all of his gentleness to give it a soft squeeze. "Feeling better now?"

Kylo nodded, still not tolerating any space between his body and that of the general but he turned his face to the side now, so he could be seen again. His features still betrayed his sadness, dark eyes hurt far more than should be possible in his current age. The older one let his finger glide through equal dark locks, cautios to be gentle and not catching a knot.  
"Do you want to talk about it?"

He knew from personal experience that the older Kylo Ren fought terrors on regular Basis as well, meeting him sometimes in the middle of the night when sleep wouldn't catch up to both of them simply staring up at the stars. They never talked about those encounters, not that he was determined to do so, but the information might have proven useful in this situation. Anyway there was no use in hurrying - the child would tell him what plagued his mind soon enough. Until then he had to be patient. So they sat in silence, not moving much besides the steady caress of his hand though the curly strands. Hux was about to propose the idea of going back to sleep when the quiet voice whispered through the room.  
"I killed them…"

He couldn't tell up to now which battle haunted the small knight so badly it would even invade his dreams as he had fought and killed many for the sake of their project.  
"I killed all of them, no exceptions. Some were barely older than me. They cried, screamed and begged for mercy but I… I just couldn't stop. There was so much anger, so much hate and blood," Ren spat out the last word like a curse clinging to him, something you were desperate to find it gone but the knowledge, it was never to come true, lodged deeply into your mind. The extinction of the new jedi order was the cause of the nightmare it seemed. Hux hadn't been present personally at this time, the first 'entrance ceremony' as Supreme Leader Snoke had called it, back in those days he had nearly finished his Training for his current Position. Nevertheless he had heard of the massacre like everyone else in Star killer base caused by Snoke's new student and the knights of Ren.  
"and then Han was there, looking at me and god… he looked so sad and hurt, telling me to come home and I could feel his heart craving for it, whispering to my mind to leave the dark side behind."

It didn't surprise the general that the little sith lord adressed his own father with his name instead of his familiarly position. He had always distanced far from his connections to his family, not hesitating to work out plans destroying the resistance and them in the process. But now Ren seemed conflicted about those things, vulnerable and confused and Hux' normally so talented tongue failed him, not a word falling from it that could lessen the child's distress. Instead the brown eyes focused on him, all serious but a glint of admiration and something he couldn't quiet name visible in those orbs, before he continued talking. "I really considered it for a moment… going home after all what happened. But I couldn't…" the gaze began to evade his, the tiny fist of the sith balling in his top again, "I couldn't leave you behind. You and the dark side are all I have… and I'll never leave you Hux, not on free will. So I… I erased what had dared to try to separate us and then all went dark…"  
The child pressed his face against his chest again, burying it in the fabric, a shiver wrecking his body.  
"Please don't ever leave me behind… it would end me for sure…"

Those words struck him to the very core, his heart skipping more than just 1 beat, comprehending the situation in a whole. For a second time speech was failing him, the meaningful words he was known for stuck in his throat with no way out. Instead Hux pulled the small body even closer, strong arms protectively wrapped around the small figure and nuzzled the messy mop of black curls.  
"I will never leave you Ren… no worries…"  
They stayed like this, enjoying each others presence and sooner or later the child's eyes dropped shut again more often than not. He repositioned them so they lay on the matress, the little one curled at his side, head resting on the older man's chest and instinctively his thumb wandered to his mouth again after such emotional distress, falling asleep again over the steady heartbeat he was listening to. Hux stayed awake a bit longer, still thinking about the words his tiny knight had uttered - basically telling him that he loved him.

Did the raven haired feel the same when he'd be an adult again? He knew very well his feeling for the child grew every day though he tried so hard to stop it. What was he supposed to do? Would Kylo even remember the times they shared once this was over? I deep sigh fell from his lips, finding a solution now with all the insecure variables seemed impossible and he shoved it from his mind. He'd attend to that later. Hux turned his head to look at his sleeping guest, the small face peaceful and he pressed another short kiss to the dark locks like it was a promise.

He'd never leave the knight behind - not now and not ever in the times to come.

\- End -


End file.
